A Cottage by the Sea
  • Home
  • On My Mind
  • Quotes
  • Secrets of an Old Woman
  • A Solitary Traveler
  • Compassionate Reading
  • Comfort food
  • Books
  • Suggested reading
  • Poems
  • About me
  • About me and my blog

Looking for novels with depth

8/10/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
My reading! It’s dropped off, at least my pleasure reading. In the past few weeks I’ve returned five or six novels after giving each no more than thirty pages a try; novels with copyrights of the last three of four years. I just don’t care about the characters’ problems, undoubtedly due in part to the discrepancy in their ages and mine. I'd like to add--no depth.
      So, this afternoon I perused the library stacks, including the Librarians Choice shelf, and checked out a few books to try. My criteria, first and foremost was to apply the old adage: You can tell a book by its cover. Next,  I read the blurb on the cover. If that appealed, I gave the first page a try.  So here I am with five books. So far, so good.

0 Comments

The Put and Take--a place to give and receive

8/7/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Thinking about all the categories of simplicity. Well, I won’t list them. Enough to say that I want a simple life. I work on it and then I look at this old house. Stuff! Over the years we’ve made major purges—when  our kids moved out, when we repainted and had the floors refinished…. In the past 25 years we’ve probably filled three dumpsters. 
So where did all this new stuff come from? The culprit is the put-and-take at our local dump (Sorry for the old-fashioned word. It’s now called a landfill). For six months it is open for residents to give and receive treasures. Really good stuff, often new—books, furniture, puzzles, kitchen ware, kid’s toys, yard equipment. For example, the coffee maker we’re using was from the P&T—new, still in the unopened box. And then, get this! One day my husband came home with three unopened bottles of Scotch!! Not hard to figure out why they were left! I hope the person who left them has never wanted them back!
       In no way am I blaming the dump for all the stuff that we have dumped into our house and yard. And we’ve done our share of giving as well as receiving. My husband picks up flower pots and other garden memorabilia. If he gives a gift, rest assured, he's found just the right present for you without spending a cent. And you will love it. 
 
I feel and know that we need to keep this place cleared up as we stay here. I can see what happens to ‘old folk’ who stay in their home of many, many years.

​

0 Comments

Thank you Kansas

8/3/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
While out walking this morning, the neighborhood fox and I stopped for a little chat. We were both elated by the pro-choice vote in Kansas. She told me she was thinking of moving to Kansas. “No, no, no! Stay in Massachusetts; it a good place to bring up your children.” I figured I could offer a little grandmotherly wisdom.

0 Comments

August, a hot month for toads

8/1/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
​
 August: the long month, the hot month, the lazy month. For all the years I was teaching, it was the planning, preparing, anticipating month. I’ve always love August because it gives both the lingering laziness of summer and the warming up intensity of September. 
    Since it is only August 1st, it feels like a lingering of summer day. This little toad thinks so. (Note to self: don’t leave the patio cushions out over night.) This morning I took the back cushion off the seat cushion and found this little guy curled up in the middle. A few minutes later he had moved to the corner. An hour later, as I get ready to post, he’s still there. Hmm, HE, who knows?
    As I sit here I see birds, bugs, bees, squirrels, and chipmunks. Over the years our yard has been visited by deer, skunk, fox, raccoon, plus others that I can’t recall. But this little toad—a first sighting. I wonder how many of his kin are about? Many, many, many.



0 Comments

Sunny day on Iona

7/28/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
On my last day on Iona the sun came out, the wind calmed down. The sun opened up a joyful spirit that just wasn’t present among the wind and rain when I first arrived. On my last day I enjoyed  some fish ’n chaps at the local pub overlooking the bay between Iona and Mull where the ferry goes back and forth.

The visit was too short, but perhaps it helped me appreciate the time I did have, the NOW. My afternoon walk kept me in the moment; every step taken in the NOW.
0 Comments

July 24th, 2022

7/24/2022

1 Comment

 
Picture
This afternoon I was sitting in St.Oran's Chapel (known for outstanding acoustics), wondering about the purpose in my life. A young woman came in and asked me if it would be alright for her to sing; I raised my hands in gratitude. She faced the altar, looked up, and sang Dona Nobis Pacem—an angel voice. A mother bird flew about and then settled on her nest above the candles, the one that I had just lit for you. Amazing grace. After she left, I stayed in the chapel for a while and prayed peace for everyone who came in. I ‘heard’ that that was what I’m supposed to be doing with my life right now. Quite the right thing for someone who loves silence, solitude and simplicity!

​

1 Comment

Helping Ukraine from Iona

7/24/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Not the most sunny weather I’ve ever experience on Iona. In fact, no sun but rain, on and off. One minute is pours, the next walking without and umbrella becomes an option. 
    Yesterday I took one of those moments and walked to the machair, the public land by the on the way to Columba’s Bay. Last time I was here, in 2017, I stopped in at a little craft and yarn shop in the garage of one of the cottages. It’s closed now, but as I walked by, Val, the owner came out to attend to a new project—raising money for Ukraine—selling little Iona stones for 50 pence each. As of July 15 she has raised 417.87 pounds. 
    “You know,” she told me, “ there are so many suffering people in the world. Africa depends on the grain grown in the Ukraine. We all have to do our little bit.”

0 Comments

July 23rd, 2022

7/23/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
Really, it’s only been two days since I headed to Logan Airport to begin my journey to Iona. I wrote that I’d see you when I got there, and now, I’m here. 
    I left 90 degree sun to chilling wind and rain here on the island. What was I thinking when I packed one light cotton sweater? That’s the way with traveling. We read the forecasts, imagine what we are being told, and then ignore it all and pack for the present. 
    Here’s a quick travel summary; easy and uneventful! Logan was busy, but everything moved along with ease. I learned that if I had checked in on line, and didn’t have a bag to check, I could go right to security. At the gate the Aer Lingus representative gave me a printed boarding pass. Dublin Airport transfer to my 45 minute flight to Glasgow and the flight itself ‘happened’. The ‘traditional Scottish breakfast at the airport before the bus to Oban satisfied my hunger, although without question the use of the microwave has changed my meaning of traditional! 

​

    Without exaggeration, I’ve taken the two hour plus drive from Glasgow to Oban at least fifteen times. I used to drive it, and once I took the train, but recently it’s been the bus. Oban is the go-to town for people living along the mid section Scottish west coast and for travelers like me heading to Mull and Iona. Caledonian MacBrayne, Hebredian and Clyde Ferries is vital to the life of those on the mainland and the islands. 
    In Oban I wandered about, took a short nap at my B & B, had the most yummy fish ’n chips available in Scotland, and went to bed early. Up at 6AM to catch the 7:25 ferry to Mull, to catch the 8:25 bus for the hour-plus ride across Mull, to ever-waiting ferry at Fionnphort to take me on the  minute ride to Iona. Whew! Now, I’m here.
     The abby is still peaceful; the soup and sandwich at the Argyll Hotel is still homemade; the ferry is still going back and forth. The wind and rain are still having their time, as is the case on Iona, but that will change. I still love it here no matter what.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Off to Iona

7/21/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture2014
I’m off to Iona today, yes the Isle of Iona, Scotland. I had planned a week In Edinburgh but that just wasn’t going to work, so I arranged to change my airline reservation of a very small fee, so off I go. I know the travel routine well: Fly Boston-Dublin-Glasgow; bus to Oban; overnight in Oban; ferry, bus, ferry to Iona; walk to my hotel. 
    I’ll see you when I get there.

0 Comments

I am not alone when I walk.

7/12/2022

0 Comments

 
Picture
You are not alone because when you walk you soon become two. Especially after walking for a long time. What I mean is that even when I am alone, there is always dialogue between body and soul (p. 56).
    I walk every day; I’ve been doing so for years..  For the past three mornings, however, thanks to wisdom of Frederic Gros, author of  A Philosophy of Walking, I’ve set out with one ascendent purpose: the unity of body and soul. Yesterday, I walked longer and further than usual—I didn’t plan it; it just happened. I walked at my usual rate, no change in speed, but my body and soul walked together, hand in hand. We weren’t in a hurry. Only the present moment was before me.

0 Comments
<<Previous
    Contact me: bobbifisher.mac@mac.com

    Categories

    All
    3rs
    3S's
    Aging
    Andre Dubus Iii
    Ann Patchett
    Anticipation
    Art
    Assisi
    Barbara Kingsolver
    Being Alone
    Beyond Words
    Boo
    Books
    Cantice Of The Sun
    Celebrations
    Choices
    Churches
    Community
    Cor
    Cottage By The Sea
    Cottage Day
    Courage
    Curiosity
    Dad
    Dalai Lama
    Death And Dying
    Depression
    Desiderata
    Dietrich Bonhoeffer
    Donald Hall
    Dr Alex Tang
    Edinburgh
    Eleanor Lerman
    Emily Dickinson
    Environment
    Esther De Waal
    Faith
    Field Trip
    Florence
    Fo
    Follow Your Bliss
    Food
    Friendship
    Frugal
    Gifts
    Giving And Receiving
    Gratitude
    Health
    Heart
    Hermits
    Hope
    Impermanence
    Independent And Close
    Inspire & Affirm & Encourage
    Introvert
    Iona
    Ireland
    Italy
    James Hollis
    Jane Austen
    Jan Sutch Pickard
    Joan Chittister
    John Dear
    John Masefield
    Joseph Campbell
    Katherine Paterson
    Knitting
    Li
    Lonely
    Longing
    Love
    Marsha Sinetar
    Mary Oliver
    Max Ehrmann
    Meaning
    Memories
    Mom
    Moving
    Museums
    My Day
    Nature
    Nina Sankovitch
    Now
    Oliver Herford
    Pamela Dalton
    Paris
    Passion
    Paulo Coelho
    Peace
    Philip Koch
    Place
    Play
    Prayer
    Present Moment
    Quiet
    Rachel Carlson
    Radical Compassion
    Read
    Reading
    Resolutions
    Restlessness
    Retirement
    Richard Rohr
    Rita Golden Gelman
    Robert Kull
    Rome
    Routines
    Rumi
    Sankovitch
    Scotland
    Seen In A Draper's Shop
    Service
    Silence
    Sim
    Simplicity
    Skye
    Sol
    Soli
    Solitude
    Soul Work
    Space
    St Catherine Of Siena
    St. Francis
    Stress
    Susan Gain
    Tenzin Palmo
    Thanksgiving
    The Uncommon Reader
    Thomas Keating
    Thomas Merton
    Three Sieves
    Time
    Travel
    Tru
    Viktor E. Frankl
    Walking
    Wonder
    Writi
    Writing

    Archives

    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.